Thermal Label Printer Ribbon | MIDCOM Data Technologies

Thermal Ribbon Shiny Side

What does the shiny side of thermal label printer ribbon mean?
by Timmy Thermal

Timmy Thermal here to talk about some consumables! No, I’m not talking about lunch I’m talking about thermal label printer ribbon. Without them you can’t print, but did you know that there are two kinds?

If you have a thermal transfer printer, then you know you have to replace the ribbon when it runs out, in order to print. You may have seen that there are two types of ribbon that you can buy, one called coded side in, and the other called coded side out. There are two types, but either will work for the industry standards, including for ribbon for thermal film Sato and ribbon for Zebra products.

Coded side in will have the coding on the inside. This is the most popular kind of thermal printing ribbon for Datamax products, and has become somewhat of a standard for the brand. You will know if it is coded sided in, not only because it will be labeled as such, but also because the outside of the ribbon will be shiny. The inside of the ribbon will be matte, because that is where the coating of the ink is located.

Coding side out will have coding on the outside. The shiny side will be on the inside, and you will have to feed it into the roll the opposite way that you would with a coded side in roll.

Either way, you can test which side your thermal label printer ink is coded on with a sticker or a piece of tape. Just stick it on there and remove it. If the tape comes off with a bunch of black residue then your ink is on the side that you tested. It’s easy as that.

I would like to emphasize that both kinds of ribbon will work on your thermal printer, you just have to make sure that you feed it in the correct way so that the dusty side is in contact with the paper.

With any more questions you can always call MIDCOM at (800) 643-2664 or chat us up on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn! Learn how to properly maintain your thermal label printer. Get our FREE eBook “10 Rules You Should Know To Keep Your Thermal Printer Operational”.